hola. gracias. pardon. i'm back!



hola amigos, i'm back from festival internacional de benicassim! very jetlagged and hanging on by a string, but very happy i got to attend the festival and also check out a lil bit of valencia. our hotel was by the beach along the mediterranean. astonishing and picture perfect like a postcard. i will have a write-up and photos in the next issue of filter, but i have some shots up on flickr. the highlight of the festival for me was seeing the pixies. gigantic!! kim deal is definitely one of my heroes...









more festival internacional de benicassim photo gallery

the rain in spain...

it's a hectic rush as i leave for spain today. my first time out of the country! i'm so excited i can't stand up. my stomach is queasy. i hear valencia is nice, and one of the venue names at benacassim seems to be "beach party" which i think means the show is right there on the beach with the surf and sand. how dreamy. how wonderful. how absolutely amazing. thank goodness the nice festival organizers actually have someone escorting us to and from the airport and to and from the different venues... why don't they do that in the u.s.? it's a good thing, otherwise i may have found myself in a similar sitch to my first sxsw -- completely lost and calling people to try to figure out where the hell i am. but alas, i don't have a tom grubbs in valencia to calm my nerves and tell me which way to walk. but i do have mike! it's going to be madness! wish me luck. see you on the flipside.

siren music festival and afterparty!



i hope to see most of you at the siren music festival at coney island tomorrow. ride the cyclone. see bands for free. make-out on the ferris wheel. chow down on some nathan's. sink your toe into the junk-ridden sand. whatever floats your boat. click here for the schedule of bands. click here to read about dirty on purpose.



there is also an afterparty at union hall in park slope (5th and union), presented by sparkle motion, where stars and dirty on purpose will be DJing... i am also told there might be other surprises in store. it's all very hush-hush, maybe-maybe at the moment.

coolfer has music & video downloads & streams available of all the bands playing siren, so if you've never heard of any of them before, you can have a taste before gorging yourself. click here to check it out!

dirty on purpose and au revoir simone on mtv's you hear it first!



mtv featured dirty on purpose and au revoir simone on mtv's you hear it first today! and if you look closely, i think you can spot me about three times in the background. crazy!!! click here to watch...

Make-Up In The Morning

This morning Sara Glick is a guest host on the washingtonpost.com. She will be answering questions LIVE having to do with beauty and make-up and you too can ask me a question. just click on the link below:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/07/03/DI2006070300512.html?referrer=emailarticle

www.saraglick.com

les savy fav @ mccarren park pool

curated by the ice cream man and stereogum and overall organized by doug and sarah at jellynyc, the first free mccarren park pool show this summer was a complete blast. congratulations to everyone involved!

before the show i grabbed a dozen cupcakes from cheeks bakery and spread the love around in the vast pool space. i ran into so many people that the cupcakes went quickly! they have the cutest cupcakes are simply yummy - the perfect size to cram into your mouth in one fell swoop.

the craziest thing about the pool party was that i felt like i wasn't in my own neighborhood. the space was so huge and so reminiscent of a huge wave pool in some faraway suburban neighborhood that i felt like i was on vacation or something. was this place really down the block from me? amazing. they had a slip and slide on one end and dodgeball on the other. sparky's was cooking out veggie burgers and chicken sausages, the ice cream man gave away free ice cream until there was nothing left but ice cream sandwiches. neighborhood children and parents and hipsters from all corners of new york city and surrounding areas were there, chilling out in the perfect summer weather - not too humid with a healthy but not overwhelming dose of sun. in the center of the back wall of the pool there was an uncovered stage, and a huge crowd had gathered around the stage for the madness that is les savy fav. (p.s. i hear clear channel is erecting a million dollar stage, so get ready for shows that are more pro-looking.)

one of the first times i saw les savy fav was at siren music festival at coney island a few years ago. i wondered, would tim harrington still be crazy, wild and unadulterated? the answer was a resounding YES. he came forth hidden in a cloak, and when he disrobed, he was wearing a pair of red shorts, his body was smeared with red paint. he looked like he was suffering from a terrible case of sun burn -- a total rock lobster. the opening chords of "adopduction" were strumming hard, and then the craziness began.

tim was... leaping from the stage into the audience. flapping around in the little pools of water on the tattered pool floor. flying down the slip and slide. humping the backstage brick wall. swinging hula hoops around his bloated belly. you know, the usual madness! that was the glory of seeing them outdoors in a venue where he could basically get away with anything he wanted. and he did.

i'm looking forward to more mccarren park pool shows. the jelly nyc parties are every sunday, and totally free!

sugar high social: sundaes and cones



time for another edition of sugar high social! this time around, the crew went to sundaes and cones on 10th between 3rd and 4th... that's right, across the street from black and white. we giddily ran through the doors of this fine establishment and were overwhelmed with our treating options... lychee, mocha chip, green tea, mango, honey dew, watermelon sherbert, cherry vanilla, pistachio -- every flavor you can imagine will nicely chill you in the summer heat.

they also have smoothies and slushies and banana boat sundaes. the smoothies were reportedly not great, but everything else was excellent. danny got a lime slushie that was so strong it was like pure sugar whizzing through your veins... most of us got cones and cups with a couple scoops of ice cream. but a few of the boys got the banana boat sundaes. danny was proud to finish his first, while the prez dtl and newcomer jason were struggling to consume the massive canoe of sugar and bananas. kara gets a special award, however, for taking jason's thin layer of leftover sundae and pouring it into her mouth, thus completing another successful edition of sugar high social.

then after everyone was finished gorging, we headed over to jason's house. on our way we passed a place (for the life of me i can't remember what that place was called) that had some delectable looking cookies. we went in and got cookies but a few of us went for these amazing chocolate covered bananas. oh my gosh. those were the best i've ever had. it was a thinly sliced banana covered in chocolate with a cookie bottom -- kind of like a twix bar with banana instead of caramel. sure, it looked obscene, but boy was it tasty!

update: the place is called something sweet and it's on the corner of 1st avenue and 11th street. i also forgot to mention they gave us free truffle buttons that were so rich, i could only eat one-fourth of one!

we trudged on to jason's place, and it turns out that he lives in like a 5 floor walkup or something -- so at least we're burning off the calories. once inside we begin to play a video game called guitar hero -- with two guitars. i'm not someone who is into a lot of video games, but i had to admit guitar hero was fun... however terrible i was at it. i guess there is a reason i am not behind a guitar. bwahahaha! i played "i love rock and roll" and "iron man." the best match was between danny and sonya when they did "no one knows" by queens of the stone age. that blew everyone's minds -- sonya kicked danny's ass!

then afterwards, sonya, danny, mike and i were walking back to their car and we passed sundaes and cones on our way. we decided to do ROUND 3! mike an i got another ice cream cone, while danny hit a grape slushie. it was a perfect end to the best sugar high social ever!! and glick was NOT in attendance. she will be sad to hear of it!!

check out more photos from our foray into the sugar goodness of treats!

going conando



read conan o'brien's graduation speech at stuyvesant high school.

the man is a comic genius.

conan's 6 tips for college:

Number one: most of you are going to competitive schools, so psych-out the competition right away. It's simple, here's how you do it -- show you at freshman orientation with a copy of Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time and a black magic marker. Sit in the dining hall and start crossing out whole paragraphs of the book while yelling "WRONG, IDIOT!" "TRY AGAIN HAWKING!" "This guy's an ass!"

Number two: rip out a picture in a magazine of a hot guy or girl and frame it. Tell people its your boy or girlfriend who goes to Ohio-Wesleyan and that your relationship is purely physical. When people ask you why she looks suspiciously like Jessica Alba throw a hot tray in their face and run away.

Three: be warned, everyone has a weird roommate. If you don't have a weird roommate, then you're the weird room mate. (applause)

Four: if you want to get out of a test, don't say you have a family emergency. Everyone says they have a family emergency in college and it never works. Say you have diarrhea. No one ever says they have diarrhea unless they do.

Five -- write these down, these work. Five: some of you guys will be tempted to grow a goatee. Do not grow a goatee. A goatee is just a beard with low self esteem. On the same note, some of you girls will be tempted to get a lower back tattoo. I just want to say -- that's totally awesome. (applause, principal shakes his head) My message is a little different than your message. You won't invite me back.

Number six: people will tell you that your future depends on what major you choose. This is not true. Einstein majored in hotel management. Dick Cheney majored in modern dance, and Britney Spears wrote a thesis on socialist labor relationships in post-glasnost Poland.

let's get the hell out of town

when you are bored with the scene you are in, then travel. that's my motto. or at least one of them.

i'm not saying i am bored of the new york scene, but sometimes, it's nice to get out of the city and discover the rest of the world. sometimes it can be amazing, and other times dreadfully awful. i haven't been lucky enough to do much traveling, but it's something that i'm dying to explore.



last night i saw jf robitaille and the capitol years, and i realized there are still good songwriters out there. i adore jf robitaille for his writing skills and his fragile voice. he's got this very approachable aspect that is wondrously endearing. he recently moved here from montreal, and his record was produced by howard bilerman (arcade fire, the dears) and brian paulson (beck, wilco). i see lots of good things down the road for him.



and the capitol years? damn, they really fucking impressed me. i mean i was completely floored throughout their set. incredible harmonies. absolutely hilarious personalities. and their amazing ability to burst into what jordon calls "organized chaos" made me clap along and jump around in delight. i am definitely dying to hear their upcoming album, dance away the terror, on park the van records. if you like dr. dog and the teeth, you will definitely dig on the capitol years. they are part of that philly collective that seems to be growing more these days. i never used to hear about bands from philly but all of a sudden, it's the next city that is birthing good music. listen to their song, "mirage people."



next week, the rinse are playing the haystack and insound party, and i can't wait to see their infectious brit pop! their songs "out of her mind" and "naughty" are stuck in my head. if you haven't seen them, you should get your ass out to club midway next wednesday. there are $3 beers to get you sloshed, great music, and videos and footage of bands like we are scientists, asobi seksu, and more!

later this month, i travel to spain -- out of the country for the first time! i just got my passport! there's an international music festival called benicassim that i'm going to check out. the festival is right on the beaches of the mediterranean. whoever dreamt up this festival must have been a genius. i want to drink in the culture there. i want to forget about new york for a weekend and live the valencia scene. wish me luck on that. i also want to be among people who are going to just go apeshit over seeing fucking awesome bands.

then later in july and august, i am going on tour with dirty on purpose from san francisco to austin. it's going to be some good times. i'll be seeing their show at bottom of the hill in san fran, and then their la show with papa m at spaceland. i'll also be with them for san diego street scene. i've heard many good things about california, and i cannot wait!



on a side note: i walked around new york city early evening yesterday listening to the new tv on the radio album, return to cookie mountain. all i can say is WOWEE ZOWEE. it hit me so suddenly, and i was walking in a trance. it's like the 5th time i've listened to the album, but i guess in the right setting, the entire album is very affective. i am still nuts about "wolf like me."

ps to the couple in the front

i forgot to say that the couple who stood up front at the dop show on thursday -- you are awesome! thanks for the kind words. seriously.

thanks to all

thanks to everyone who came out to see dirty on purpose on thursday. we oversold the room with a line out the door! also thanks to say hi to your mom, the little ones and a place to bury strangers. it was great playing among our friends. hope to see everyone all over again at siren music festival, which is going to be sick!


haystack and insound present... july artist summer series

i've also helped put together some showcases of great emerging bands with haystack, an online music community that is launching later this month and insound, one of the first independent online music stores, (see the flyer in the post below). come and check out the first night's lineup:

wednesday, july 5th
@ club midway (formerly scenic - ave b between 2nd and 3rd)


8pm - jf robitaille (recently moved to brooklyn from montreal)
i first saw jf robitaille play acoustic, and he charmed me with his smart yet intricate music. check out his myspace page and come out and check out his live show. he recently completed a 7th day residency at pianos.


9pm - the english department
the english department are indie rockers who mix intellect with sensitivity for engaging rock and roll.


10pm - cavalier king (residency)
this is the first night of cavalier king's residency at club midway in july 2006. he recently performed at thom yorke's listening party, and that may give you an idea of what kind of music he plays -- gentle acoustic rock that explodes with passion. check out the song "the unprotected."


11pm - the capitol years
you may think you've heard their name around, but never checked them out before. now's your chance before they release their next record on park the van records (dr. dog, the teeth) and become the next big thing from the city of brotherly love. check out their song "mirage people." it really reminds me of the harmonious nature the beatles used to have.

special guest DJ, aurelio from calla

haystack and insound present...

they say these mountains grow